deja vu

Must be something about me and sweater patterns.

For the second time in 6 months it's taken me three different pattern attempts to land on a finished sweater I'm happy with. When I ordered this Quince & Co yarn I was convinced that their Agnes pattern would be perfect, especially in an ever-practical gray. Started it and got to a few inches below the sleeves and tried it on. But I knew immediately I would never wear it - the neck was too wide and it just did nothing for me (it even made me question choosing gray). So, unravelled, started over. This time I tried Jane Richmond's Sedum which has been in my Ravelry favourites for a very long time. Knit this pattern almost to the sleeve division and got stuck on the look of the increases in seed stitch - I just didn't like them. Sighed, unravelled again and started another pattern search.

Quite by accident I found Katrine, another Quince & Co pattern. I found it while visiting other Yarnalong blogs (in this case, MadelineBea). It seemed to be kismet: a pattern I liked in the yarn that I had - and even the colourway I chose! My only hesitation was having one less skein than the pattern called for, but I figured if I shortened the cowl I might make it. Thankfully I was right.

The pattern is easy, knits up quick and makes for a heavy, squishy cardigan that will be awesome to wear when the cool weather comes back in the fall. I think "Storm" is my favourite colour in the Quince & Co palette - such a perfect, slightly blue gray. My only mods were to knit the cowl to only 6", adjusted the seed stitch order to make cleaner selvedges (P first stitch, slip last stitch knitwise on every row) and I ignored the sleeve decreases (risky given my yarn situation, but luckily it worked out). Oh, and I did make larger buttonholes than called for because I wanted to use these amazing wooden buttons I ordered from Ontario-based Woodlot.

Even though the month has been chaotic, I still sacrificed sleep to read. Honestly, reading a few pages a night keeps me grounded. Even though it's fiction, stepping into a story, another life, a new part of the world - it all helps with perspective. When God Was a Rabbit was an enjoyable read, treading lightly over the dark edges of the story to spend time developing a family of characters that were pretty fascinating. I was sold on the title alone and then pretty stoked by the cover but in the end the words were the best of all.

For more stories of knitting and reading, visit today's Yarnalong.

gnome chic

Rooms are on the move again. We're 99% sure that we're digging out our basement, and soon. Which means somehow finding space around the house for everything that was in our basement. Considering my studio was down there, this has quite an impact on me.

A number of weekends ago, without any lead up, we decided to move Milo out of his crib and into Sadie's bedroom. This spontaneous decision was Jay's great idea so it meant I had no time to get emotional about it. The kids were so excited that I could easily absorb their joy. But also, I soon realized my great fortune: I was getting a room with natural light to work in. I was downright giddy at the prospect of lugging fabric and supplies up two flights of stairs. Our back bedroom regardless of it's small size, is an awesome room to be creative in.

I'll post another photo when the space is more together, but for now I had to share this amazing mushroom lamp Jay and the kids got me for my birthday specifically for this new space. There's a kids shop in Toronto called Kolkid that I adore, and I saw this lamp months ago and mentioned it to Jay (you know, in the "gee, if we ever needed a new lamp I saw this awesome mushroom one!" style of mentioning). He remembered and viola, my new studio is now perfectly gnome chic.

Of course, this is a temporary space until the basement is properly finished. The plans are big and worthy of another post (or a dozen) as the reno will take about 6 months overall (gasp). But it is totally the right decision. We love this house too much to leave it, even if it is tiny. There's simply no better place for miniature glowing mushrooms.

time marches on

Wow, there goes a month. A month of too much work and too much loss. But thankfully the weather has turned around and everything is looking better. Milo has a new pair of bed slacks made from his no-longer-needed crib sheet, signalling a welcome shift from thinking about how time is passing to considering new possibilities.

It's all about the lemonade, right?